Electric vehicle consultancy FAQs

ChargeWorks specialises in supporting businesses to install the right hardware and software appropriate for their requirements. Get in touch with us for bespoke support for workplace charging.

It really depends on the use case. Workplace and destination charging may require software to manage billing and reservations. Home chargers may need to seamlessly integrate with a solar PV system. To find out which charger is best for you, get in touch with us.

ChargeWorks can help accelerate your EV charging project by making introductions or managing the tender process on your behalf. Find out more about our EV consultancy service here.

There are lots of different ways to do this, but to keep things as simple as possible for journey planning then ChargeWorks recommends you start with zap-map and A Better Route Planner.

Most EV drivers will be using a 7.4 kW charger at home. Other options are available, but in the interest of being helpful, this is the standard. Again, charge time will depend on how much you need for the next day’s drive and what the state of charge is when you plug in. But to charge an average family EV from 10% – 90% will take around 6.5 hours.

A kilowatt (kW) is a unit to measure power. A kilowatt hour is a unit to measure energy. They are both related to the smaller unit of Watts (W), which is named after the famous Scottish 18th Century inventor James Watt. A kilowatt is 1,000 Watts.

If it helps, you can imagine Watts to be a measure of electrical flow, flowing like water. If a device requires more power to operate then the tap will need to open further. Here’s what we mean:

Take an old incandescent 60 W bulb. This type of bulb requires more power to illuminate your room than a modern LED 5 W bulb. So to run the 60 W bulb for an hour you will use 60 Watt-hours. Over the same time period, the LED bulb will require 5 Watt-hours. 

These are 3 kW chargers or less and will charge on alternating current (AC). They can be a three-pin plug or commando (the type you might find on a campsite). Some dedicated EV chargers are also limited to 3kW though they are few in number. Slow doesn’t necessarily mean bad. It could be great if it meets your requirements.

These are 7.4 kW to 22 kW chargers and will charge on AC. These are common chargers at home, supermarkets, car parks, workplaces and on-street. Should you plug into a more powerful and faster 22 kW charger you may find your car will only charge at 7.4 kW. Whether or not your car will charge at the higher speed will depend on whether or not your car will accept three-phase charging. This might be an optional extra.  

These are 50 kW to 150 kW and will charge on direct current (DC). These are bigger units that come with their own tethered cables. You will also need to use the DC plug on your car. Because they can deliver a much higher power they will charge your car much more quickly than the slow or fast chargers. Most affordable family cars will have a maximum DC charge rate between 50 kW and 100 kW. If you plug your car into a faster charger than your car is capable of receiving, then you can still charge your car but you will not be able to access the higher power rates.  

These are over 150 kW and will charge on DC and are broadly similar to rapid chargers but with more power. You can plug any EV into an ultra-rapid charger and your car will charge. However, to receive the highest power the charger is capable of delivering, in the UK this is currently 350 kW, your car will also need to be able to receive this charge rate.